Another great day

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Wednesday September 15, 2010:

Today was independence day as I noted earlier, however I didn’t do much to experience the parades and parties I fantasized about. Getting to Villareal by 8 am was not practical and instead I utilized the day to sleep in until 10 am and relax on the beach with my fellow students. After a nice (but fairly expensive) breakfast with 3 of the German students at an Italian café, I watched a half of the Real Madrid game and then went to the travel agency to book myself on a catamaran cruise tomorrow afternoon, and to order my shuttle for Sunday’s trip to Monteverde. After that it was off to the beach for 4 hours of sun and fun. We played volleyball for the majority of the time, with a few breaks to fool around in the waves. The beach here stays moist even when the tide is low so the sand is wet and compact which was interesting. We got some great games going and even had a local Tico join us for a couple of hours, and we tried to talk in Spanish as much as possible. We were good at using Spanish to keep score and to shout words of encouragement or disdain, but when we had something really important to say the English couldn’t be kept inside. After volleyball we were all famished so we went to the store and bought some food to cook dinner. 4 of us prepared a very scrumptious and filling meal consisting of pasta with homemade meat sauce, garlic bread and stir-fried vegetables. It was impressive. I read a little more of my book, Fever Pitch, a memoir about a British author’s lifelong experience with soccer. Now my friends are trying to persuade me to join them at the bar, but my bank account and diet could use a night off. Plus I have class at 8 am again. I feel like I’m back studying abroad, everyone wants to go out all the time and people treat school like a joke. It’s a good thing I’m only in Tamarindo for this week or else I would need a year to get fluent. My habits will have to change in Monteverde. I’ve been told by a few of the expats that Tamarindo is the party place, and everywhere else I go will be much more low key so I should be okay. I took a few pictures of the dinner so I’ll get those up soon. More to come tomorrow as well (after the sail!).

Wow, so tonight I had said that I was not going to go out, but I gave into the pressure of my friends. I did manage to read some of my book and do my homework before going out but it is now 3 am and I am still up. I was smart enough to only take $11 with me so I wouldn’t spend too much tonight. The bar we went to, Pacifico, was great. There were more Ticos than gringos, and the beer was cheap, only $1000 colones ($2) apiece, and free shots for guys up until midnight. When has a bar in the US ever given out free shots to guys? Never! The music was great, half the time they played salsa and it was amazing to watch the locals dance, they are so entertaining to watch. The other half they played American style music but it was mostly in Spanish (think reggaeton like Pit Bull but better). We also met some a bunch of non Cota Ricans, including a brother and sister from England who gave me the names of some people in Monteverde to use on tours. They had great things to say and even encouraged me to take a night hike in the rainforest. It sounded a bit scary but I may well have to give in because they were able to see exotic animals such as sloths…

I have class at 8 so I think I should be getting to bed now. All my friends just decided to go swim in the ocean again… what is wrong with them?! Good night all. Tomorrow I am going to start writing my journal entries in Spanish (don’t worry I will include an English translation too!). I figure it will be a good way to practice my Spanish and it might be fun for you to read too if you ever studied the language. Corrections will be welcomed. Hasta luego amigos. Escribiré más mañana.

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Photos

Golden Monkey
A beer-orange soda mix